ARTIST INTERVIEW – FRIDA FJELLMAN

Frida Fjellman is one of Sweden’s most prominent Craft Artists. Her creations in ceramic and glass are very different from the aesthetics of minimalism and form following function that we have come to expect of Swedish Craft Artists and Designers, blurring the line between Craft and Fine Art. Her ceramic animals take us into a dreamlike world of myths and fables, of human interaction with animals and nature, most of them originating from the Swedish Northern landscape. Her glass chandeliers are sparkling gem like prisms that are suspended jewels in a room. In the exhibition “Being Frida Fjellman” at Gustavsberg Konsthall, one walks in to a dramatic stage set, red velvet curtains as a backdrop, and engaging with the artwork, her animals move and trigger different feelings within the visitor.

Frida has exhibited very widely at home and abroad, has won numerous grants and awards, among them, Residence Magazine’s Craft Artist of the Year 2010. Her art is in the collections of major museums in Sweden and there are numerous installations in public spaces.

You studied ceramics and glass design at Konstfack, how did that become your choice of material as an artist?

It was ceramics that had the biggest influence on me. I used to accompany my father to Ceramic classes when I was little and always had a fascination for the material. When I later attended an introductory course at the Community College Helliden, I had a wonderful teacher, Inger Persson who previously worked as a designer for Rörstrand. She taught me a lot and she really made me love ceramics. So it was without any doubt that I would choose that line of study. Even though I had thought that it would just be for a little while.

In your exhibitions you seem to create a very theatrical atmosphere, bringing ceramics, light, glass and lamps together in a very dreamlike scenario, what is the story that you are trying to create?

It differs from time to time. Often I have a clear picture of the whole thing from the start, and plan all the materials and elements from a very early stage of the process. I see the exhibition space as a three dimensional painting which you are also able to experience from within, adding certain elements that will trigger the senses. It is a mixture of symbolic meanings, aesthetic experiences and my own personal take on it. I have a certain object as a “base”, like main characters (after I have set my own frames and rules for the show) and it grows from this. It is a slow process and it takes time. I guess that the story would be some kind of essence of what has actually been on my mind over the last year transformed into something tangible.

You use a lot of animals in your sculptures, what do they represent to you?

They represent so much… It can be my signature, myself, our relationship to nature, myths and tales, our cultural heritage, our relationship to things of the past, general emotional states of being and so on.

Could you describe the process you go through in creating your animal sculptures?

It is quite a challenging process. Firstly I need to choose the type of animal. It can come from an idea that’s been brewing over time. Then a pose that will match my design objective. I would also have to decide what the animal will project. At the same time I will have to read up on that particular animal, both facts and people’s private experiences. Once I have decided on the pose, I start looking for pictures, then comes the time to start building… I begin with a rather brutal process, I start by spiralling up a base that is a lot smaller than the intended sculpture of the animal, so that I can start adding a lot of clay while pressing and bending into shape. Then I wait for the base to be stable before I can start to sculpt the animal properly. I make it hollow from the start. It takes time and it is a laborious process but it’s also beautiful and rewarding. I really feel the animal when I am working with it. After that the last step is moving it to be glazed, and that is another whole process.

You studied light and neon at the Pilchuck School of Glass in Washington, what attracts you to neon and is it challenging to work with?

Only because I just loved it!

What is it that you want to project with your art to those viewing it?

I would like the visitors to go close to the objects. I would like to trigger curiosity and sometimes fascination. There are times I have worked with questions surrounding what we have come to believe and try to demonstrate that through my sculptures but mostly I would like the viewer to be sucked in and think about something else for a moment. I would like to move the viewer into questioning why did this happen? Why am I sad to see a mole curled up on a cushion?

I love your chandeliers, what was the inspiration for the design?

Thank you! Emeralds were the inspiration. And the prisms on a traditional crystal chandelier. I needed an element that would symbolise something magical and captivating. A focus point, like a large treasure. And I needed something to be up in the air, and that’s how the idea for the chandelier was conceived. The last chandelier was made with the prisms itself as the building part, they are leaning on each other.

How do craft artists merge craft into the world of Fine Art, especially in Scandinavia, where craft is known for its minimal aesthetics? Do you find this a challenge?

I see that as an opening and an access. A long time ago, after my graduation from Konstfack, I worked more actively with it. For example I did my own version of “Scandinavian Blonde” but for me it contained the Northern Swedish mountain landscape, Mountain Owls, Lemmings, Ermines, more drama. And I have been working with people’s preconceived opinions as well. I found it interesting, with the beaver’s shape for example. The big belly, rounded back, the short neck and big yellow teeth. Qualities that we mostly consider ugly or unattractive. I think those are ideas that we have taught ourselves. But for a beaver, this look is perfect. They are perfect animals for its purpose and I wanted to demonstrate that in some way. And that’s how it went, one thing led to another.

What are you working on now?

I am working on a public commission at Eskilstuna for a new Bath House and I am also starting to work on a public commission at a new sport arena in Varberg. Also something The National Swedish Association of Art, SAK, and a few other projects.

NEWS

PRESS

This chandelier is shown at Stockholmmodern a month from now

— 2018-11-19 —

Productions just started for these vases which are two of the three last ones for my series What’s up? for Kosta Boda.

Frida Fjellman belongs to the small but exclusive group of Swedish craftsmen who have been fêted by both Art Basel and Design Miami. To be noticed by these two internationally renowned leading platforms for contemporary art and design in 2017 shows that Frida Fjellman has created her own space in contemporary visual and design arts. Her innovative interpretation of the classic chandelier has received wonderful reviews in global media and was honoured with a solo exhibition at Hostler Burrows Gallery in New York. Frida Fjellman possesses a unique and bold talent that she fearlessly uses to shift the boundaries for Swedish handblown glass and glass arts on a global stage. Frida Fjellmans courage transports her – and the beholder – far away from typically Swedish, unobtrusive minimalism and shows a brave personal interpretation of a future Swedish aesthetic which has welcomed the outside world. Without ever having lost her Swedish historical context. Frida Fjellman’s work is represented at leading institutions including the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Ebeltoft Glass Museum in Danmark, Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, and the American Museum of Glass in New Jersey. She has been designing products for Kosta Boda since 2016 and her work is sold by Kosta Boda stores and its international partners.

Foto: Joachim Belaieff

— 2018-05-06 —

TEFAF New York

Come and visit Hostler Burrows both 12, upstairs at the Park Avenue Armory until tuesday 8/5.

Thank You, The Swedish Art Grants Commitee, for supporting the Crystal Atmosphere at Hostler Burrows, New York

— 2018-04-06 —

FRIDA FJELLMAN

CRYSTAL ATMOSPHERE

Opening Reception: Friday, March 9, 6-8pm

Photos Credit: Nathan Gallagher / NetJets

Hostler Burrows is pleased to announce an exhibition of work by contemporary Swedish artist and designer Frida Fjellman. This is the artist’s first solo presentation at the gallery and in New York. Fjellman’s ”Crystal Atmosphere” is the reimagining of an installation originally commissioned for the NetJets private lounge at Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach in 2017.

In this cohesive and immersive installation, Fjellman succeeds in engaging the viewer as they pass through a veritable “crystal forest,” where enchantment is cast by suspended glass prisms laced dreamily to one another by drooping chain. Designed, in Fjellman’s words, to “impart a sense of calm as well as to intrigue and fascinate,” the experience is at once unabashedly romantic and quietly poetic. Fjellman’s keen use of color and the decadent beauty of the hand-blown crystals transfix the viewer with an energy that is direct and pure.

”Frida Fjellman, one of the artists of our next exhibition, entered the grand court: for the 48th edition of Art Basel in Switzerland last June, she was commissioned for NetJets, an aviation company Private and great partner of the art fair.The young designer has been able to immerse visitors from the VIP lounge in the world of myths and fables as she alone knows how to do it, with a suspended glass installation that inspired tranquility and dream. Follow this designer closely and discover his work at the next level craft exhibition. Opening October 21 at 14 pm.”

— 2017-08-21 —

Have a look at my new limited collection Who was it? for Kosta Boda at Nordiska Kompaniet, NK. One month from now. This is a part of the exhibition Homage, Kosta Boda 275th anniversary. 5 designers makes their own homage to an earlier designer at Kosta Boda. I chosed to work with Erik Höglund.

Young designers interpret older legends. We’ve invited five of the country’s most exciting artists to team up with famous names from the glassworks’ rich history. Frida Fjellman has joined forces with Erik Höglund. Hannah Hansdotter with Monica Backström. Åsa Jungnelius chimes in with Ulrika Hydman-Vallien and Sven X:et Erixson. Mattias Stenberg embraces the elegant heritage of Vicke Lindstrand.

The result is a gracious homage to our most beloved Swedish glass art. Renewal has always been a part of our DNA at Kosta Boda, but without our historical roots, we would never have survived when the winds blew cold.

The catalogue is here! Contact me if you are interested at frida@fridafjellman.com

Graphic design: Josefin Janson

One of the texts, by Inger Molin

(Opening speech September 11th 2015)

Frida! Over the course of the years you seem to have gone around with a natural entourage of hares, lemmings, owls, foxes, dogs and now, even a bear, exploring a wide field in which you have linked together culture and nature, shifting the very boundary between art and crafts. You have expressed this in a succession of exhibitions at private and public galleries and museums in Sweden and abroad, and with veritably brilliant works for display in the public domain.

So what is it that moves around inside Frida Fjellman’s head? One gains a good impression of this by checking fridafjellman.com. Up comes a page full of images in the most striking colours.

All this information on your website fills me with a bubbling sense of delight. It is as though I was looking towards the horizon for a lost balloon, not with a sense of loss but with a growing feeling of light being shed on a fragment of memory – something from childhood, an encounter with people, an encounter with animals – and, at the same time, an insight into the transience of life.

Like Alice in Wonderland, you lift up and reflect thingsclose at hand that are often hidden and neglected in a scaleof shifting proportions without your works ever becoming trivial or approaching pastiche. You make us see what you see.

Our professional contacts – yours and mine – started with Lockbon och en koja at the memorable Agata gallery on Södermalm in Stockholm; a forest hut made of glittering glass branches which would have been big enough for

you to hide in them. This was an extraordinarily beautiful exhibition. When the exhibition ended, you, together with Maj Sandell and Agnes Lidman, who ran the gallery for several successful years, were positive towards the proposal to move the hut to my own gallery on Kommendörsgatan in Stockholm. It remained there during the cold and snowy winter of 2001 in front of a backdrop onto which

a forest image was projected. The gallery was closed for the Christmas break. Mounds of snow outside the windows were trampled down by window­shoppers while icicles rained down from the roof. All the while your hut stood firm providing an extraordinarily popular Christmas present to passers­by. Judging by the notes people thrust through the letterbox there were a lot of them.

Frida, your art moves us. You lead us into a magical world with your clear gaze and, in the best sense, you see things with a child’s vision, with the profound seriousness thatis the source of all serious creative work. With a fixed purposefulness and with absolute precision you continue to develop your art. You do not romanticize but, on the contrary, you show us what you regard as self­evident connections.

You are a warrior in your field. And it is a great delight for me to be able to formally open your exhibition: Being Frida Fjellman.

The creative endeavors of Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish designers go on display this month

TEXT BY

Brook Mason

Posted August 6, 2018

When it comes to Nordic design, there’s no shortage of talent: The likes of Alvar Alto, Verner Panton, and Hans Wegner established the region as a hotbed of creativity decades ago. But it’s not all about midcentury modern. A new generation of Nordic creatives will be on full display at this year’s Chart Art Fair, running August 31 through September 2 in Copenhagen. Since launching the offshoot Chart Design in 2016, the fair has become an oasis of fresh talent. This year, Chart Design will welcome 12 galleries from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway showing a slew of new projects in glass, textiles, and more.

”Scandinavia’s iconic 20th-century design has long been celebrated but the latest crop of designers are already receiving international acclaim,” design director Nanna Balslev Strøjer tells AD PRO. Although it only launched six years ago, Chart has quickly become a magnet for influential figures in the worlds of art and architecture on these shores. Recent attendees include Lee Mindel, Scott Campbell, and Kyle DeWoody. So what makes the design on view so distinctive? “Blurring the boundaries between the art, sculpture, and design as well as concept and craft is characteristic of so many examples on view,” Strøjer points out. Here, AD PRO rounded up some of the designers to watch….

Frida Fjellman’s Crystal Atmosphere chandelier.

Photo: Joachim Belaieff

Frida Fjellman

At Stockholmmodern, Swedish designer Frida Fjellman’s captivating glass Crystal Atmosphere chandelier, which references chunky shards of glittering emeralds and diamonds, will hold center stage. Although Fjellman only opened her own studio in 2000, she has already created site-specific installations for the Four Seasons Surf Club and NetJets VIP Lounge during Art Basel in Miami Beach last year….”

This year’s big Design S Gala 2018 took place at Kulturhuset/Stadsteatern in Stockholm. Design S is run by Svensk Form and represents Sweden’s most prestigious design awards in the realm of architecture, furniture and craft etc. During the gala, the winner of, among others, Lauritz Konsthantverkspris is named – an award of outstanding craft and design. Mette Rode Sundström, co-owner of Lauritz.com, presented the award to the designer Frida Fjellman for her spectacular and beautiful glass work, developed visually and playfully at the intersection between art and craft. Frida Fjellman creates contemporary products with the potential to become the auction classics of the future, latest the series What’s up for Kosta Boda.

Lauritz Konsthantverkspris recognizes Frida Fjellman for her glasswork over time, most recently reflected in her new collection What’s up for Kosta Boda. Here follows the jury’s motivations:

A collection that is both playful and serious, its surprising size making the object occupy space so it doesn’t disappear in the room. It shows a designer who takes craft to a new level, who has drawn her bow, takes action and shows how the boundary between arts and craft is being wiped out. The vases are beautiful and humorous, but also functional. They radiate joy and are unpretentious, nothing is left to chance. Frida Fjellman is a pioneer ahead of her time, which makes her a trendsetter. And What’s up is a collection where the designer accepts the help of skilled craftsmen and raises glass as material to a new dimension.

Mette Rode Sundström, co-owner of Lauritz.com, explains the purpose of the Lauritz Konsthantverkspris:

The purpose of the Lauritz Konsthantverkspris is to award one spectacular designer who stands out with his/her unique vision, keen sense of genuine craftsmanship and conscious choice of materials. The designer is contributing in an innovative and sustainable way to Swedish design through creations that have the potential to draw future consumers to auctions in 25+ years, spreading joy in the lives and homes of more generations to come.

— 2018-06-14 —

Damn Magazine No. 67

FRIDA FJELLMAN designer

Frida Fjellman is a Swedish designer who has recently created impressive light installations in both private residential commissions and for be- spoke large interventions.

‘Marie-Antoinette is a site-specific installa- tion at the Swedish Institute in Paris. I made a custom-designed chandelier for its fantastic stairway and the result was stunning. The crush between time and aesthetics just became one…I did some fantastic interventions during Art Basel in Miami, and this came after a presence at Design Miami/2016, having had my solo show La Crypte de Velours Bleu for Hostler Burrows gal- lery. In December 2017, I was asked by the airline NetJets, the main sponsor for Art Basel, to turn its VIP Collectors lounge into an installation. With Crystal Atmosphere I tried to turn a strict and a bit claustrophobic environment into something alive and mystical. Crystal Atmosphere is the result of around 100 crystals, all hand-blown in Småland – the kingdom of glass in the Swedish forest – at the Boda Glass Factory. The programmed puls- ing LED light has a calming effect and the same rhythm as human breathing.’

fridafjellman.com

— 2018-06-05 —

The best design exhibitions to see in March from around the globe

We’ve scoured the globe to find the most captivating, uncanny and memorable design shows to see in 2018; from retrospectives and major blockbusters to thematic exhibitions and solo shows. So here’s our list of must-see design events this month…

DESIGN/2 MAR 2018

Marking her New York debut, contemporary artist and designer Frida Fjellman has developed a new version of her Netjets private lounge installation which showed at Art Basel Miami Beach last year. Visitors are invited to wander through the Swedish designer’s ‘crystal forest’ that is composed of hanging hand-blown crystal lanterns, which gently pulsate, gracefully attached via a chain to create a mesmerising experience. The installation Fjellman says is intended to ‘impart a sense of calm as well as to intrigue and fascinate.’

Frida Fjellman in her studio with pieces from her Crystal Atmosphere, commissioned by NetJets for Art Basel 2017CREDIT: NATHAN GALLAGHER

by Bethan Ryder

11 DECEMBER 2017 • 3:00PM

Crystal sceptic or not, visitors to the NetJets VIP lounge at Art Basel, Miami Beach can’t fail to have been soothed by the Crystal Atmosphere installation by Swedish craft artist Frida Fjellman.

This year was the 16th time the private aviation company has partnered with Art Basel and its lounge – screened off from the general Collector’s Lounge – was dominated by a series of giant prism-shaped glass lights in a variety of shades, strung from the ceiling like jewels on pretty brass chains.

Frida Fjellman in the NetJets loungeCREDIT: CHARLES ROUSSEL

These lanterns, glass-blown in both opaque and clear glass with the light source programmed to slowly pulsate, generated a calming dreamlike ambience – which was the artist’s intention.

”I was interested in exploring the magical sense of tranquility that you experience when cruising above the clouds,” the pink-haired Fjellman explains. ”Flying is perhaps one of the few oasis of calm in our hyper-connected digital society. The idea is that people come in, relax, sink down in their seats and rest a bit.”

Fjellman’s installation follows Rebecca Louise Law’s meditative carpet of meadow flowers that hovered above heads in last year’s lounge. It seems NetJets is only too aware that even the most ardent art collectors require some respite when confronted with the supermarket-like aisles of visual stimuli at Art Basel.

Crystal Atmosphere at the NetJets lounge, Art Basel, South Miami

This collaboration came about after NetJets’ representatives spotted Fjellman’s enchanting oversized chandeliers at the booth of her New York gallery Hostler Burrows, during last year’s smaller sister fair,Design Miami. Fjellman was inundated with a flurry of emails following the fair, so much so that it took three email approaches from NetJets before she recognised it as a serious commission.

Fjellman headed to the Kingdom of Crystal and the recently revived Boda Glass factory in Småland, southern Sweden, to create the 100 prisms that comprise the installation. It was a two-month process.

”This is not a natural shape for glass, they’re formed using iron molds. The larger prisms take around one hour with three people working intensely on them, they then have to cool for 24 hours. The smallest take around half an hour. Clear glass is fastest, but opaque colour takes extra time because it can crack more easily.”

Frida Fjellman working on her crystal lights in the Boda Glass FactoryCREDIT: NATHAN GALLAGHER

A fine art graduate of Konstfack, Stockholm’s art, crafts and design university, clay was Fjellman’s first love, her father taking her to local ceramics classes when she was a child. Later studies at The Corning Studio in New York and Washington’s Pilchuck School of Glass saw her move into working with neon, lighting and glass.

Known for her mythical Scandinavian art pieces that incorporate life-size ceramic animals, she conceived her first prismatic chandelier to complete a tableau of woodland creatures as part of her 2008 exhibition Nocturnal Dreams.

”I needed something exaggerated as a centrepiece,” she told us, ”a reinterpretation of the chandelier – something a little magical.”

Movie link:

Fjellman’s collaboration with NetJets also included the installation of several large chandeliers for the outdoor terrace of the Four Seasons at the Surf Club.

Art Basel may be over, but admirers of her work can look forward to a solo show next spring with Hostler Burrows at New York’s The Armory Show, otherwise you can invest in her ceramic or glass treasures via private commission.

fridafjellman.com

— 2018-01-08 —

In Vogue 9 December 2017

10 Things We Learned About Art Basel Miami

”…Art Basel Miami Beach is the art world’s hedonistic winter break, where most networking is done besides the pool at Soho Beach House before the fair itself (the final opportunity of the year to reel in five-figure sales) has actually opened. The world’s eyes are usually on the parties where rappers rub shoulders with collectors and the fashion crowd dress to the nines, rather than the art, and the electric atmosphere is largely triggered by temperatures that won’t dip below 21 degrees Celsius in the shade (day or night). For the no-holds-barred partygoers, this might be the last opportunity to wear a swimsuit before Christmas, or pull off a lightweight full-designer look (Gucci, Prada or Dior preferably) to rival any Texan oil heiress popping into town to pick up a William Eggleston for the spare room.

Here are the 10 things you need to know about Art Basel Miami Beach 2017:…”

”…The art will be in unexpected places

From set designer Es Devlin’s twisted hotel room maze that awaits behind a velvet rope at the back lobby of The Edition, to Studio Drift’s 300-strong flock of drone birds that illuminated the night skies above South Beach, or Swedish glass artist Frida Fjellman’s suspended crystals hidden inside the ABMB’s exclusive NetJets lounge, it pays to enter the realm of the unexpected. “When I do public installations it’s about messing things up a bit. You’re working with a space that has other uses, but you want to alter the experience of being in that place,” Fjellman explained from underneath a chain of her ambient octahedrons (the lighting changes to create a wave of coloured light through the crystals similar to the Northern Lights). “You need to be here to experience their mood-altering effects and the heaviness of the glass, but you might have come for another purpose.” Only one in two of her larger crystals, which look like the glass stopper of an Art Deco perfume bottle, will survive the high temperatures during fabrication. The rest explode under their own weight. Is this an antidote to the dark Scandinavian winters or the fair’s harsh booth lighting? “Definitely.”

On the occasion of its 16-year partnership with Art Basel private jet airline Netjets unveils yet another project in collaboration with the fair. This year, the Netjets collectors lounge featured a bespoke installation by Swedish artist Frida Fjellman, who gave her signature blown glass lanterns a new spatial interpretation.

The lanterns first appeared as part of a solo exhibition of the artist’s work in 2015, and since been developed in a variety of colours and sizes, keeping their distinctive mouth blown glass and metal features, and presented both as single pieces or as chandelier-like clusters. Fjellman has been working with Sweden’s The Glass Factory, an art glass producer based in Boda – a small village in the country’s forests – to develop the project over the last two years.

‘When I first created these lamps, my intention was not to make something beautiful, or useful,’ says Fjellman. ‘I wanted something that looked like exaggerated jewellery, that looked beautiful but also a bit weird; it’s interesting and a bit surprising that people want them.’

The lamps were shown at Design Miami in 2016, as part of a large installation by Hostler Burrows (this year’s Design Miami/Basel also had a smaller selection on display at the gallery’s booth), and that’s where they caught Netjets’ attention. The artist was given free reign on the lounge space, and over four months developed an installation of 100 lanterns (her largest installation of these pieces to date) in different shades and sizes, also producing a new large-scale piece that pushes the limits of production.

The lanterns hang on the ceiling in colour clusters, and the lights are discreetly turned on and off with a slow breathing pulse. ‘My intention was to create a calming environment to de-stress from the fair,’ says the artist. Titled ‘Crystal Atmosphere,’ the lounge installation affirms the private aviation company’s commitment to the arts, with previous projects featuring collaborations with art/design duo Snarkitectureand British artist Rebecca Louise Law.

‘I was interested in exploring the almost magical sense of tranquility that you experience when cruising above the clouds,’ concludes Fjellman. ‘Flying is perhaps one of the few oasis of calm in our increasingly interconnected digital society.’

Frida Fjellman’s “Crystal Atmosphere” for NetJets at Art Basel

By Eliza Jordan

Since 2002, NetJets has been an associate partner of the Art Basel fair. This week in Basel, the leading Berkshire Hathaway private aviation company debuts its collaboration with Swedish artist Frida Fjellman, who created the “Crystal Atmosphere” installation for the NetJets VIP Lounge.

“Art Basel in Basel is an annual highlight for our owners, both in Europe and across the globe, many of whom are avid art collectors and enthusiasts. NetJets has supported Art Basel in Basel since 2002 and our long-running involvement is testament to the show’s continued position as the world’s leading platform for modern and contemporary art. This year we wanted to take our partnership with Art Basel one step further and through our collaboration with Frida. NetJets continues to demonstrate its commitment to providing innovative and exceptional experiences for our customers,” said Philip Baer, Regional Vice President, NetJets Europe.

Fjellman’s ceramic and glass works are finely crafted, exuding emotional and dreamy characteristics. To complement the brand’s place in the field of aviation, she used 100 glass prisms to represent NetJet’s community engagement with design and art. The “Crystal Atmosphere” theme was executed by the BodaGlass factory in Boda Glasbruk—a town in Southern Sweden—and took over two months to create by hand by master glassblowers with over 15 years of experience.

“I was interested in exploring the almost magical sense of tranquility that you experience when cruising above the clouds,” said Frida Fjellman. “Flying is perhaps one of the few oasis of calm in our increasingly interconnected digital society. ‘Crystal Atmosphere’ was designed to impart a sense of calm to the viewer as well as to intrigue and fascinate, making the visitor reflect and take a step back from their everyday lives. I hope that this will be a memorable and unexpected experience for the guests.”

Art Basel 2017 – The VIP Preview Highlights

The Collector’s VIP Lounge is a by-invitation-only area welcoming First Choice VIP and VIP-Preview card holders throughout the fair and is luxuriously represented by Art Basel’s sponsoring partners.

Frida Fjellman for NetJets

It’s the 16th year of partnership for NetJets and Art Basel. For this year’s artistic entertainment, the private aviation firm chose to work with Frida Fjellman, a critically acclaimed Swedish Craft Artist, in creating an innovative installation on display at the NetJets VIP lounge in the Art Basel Collectors Lounge. Celebrated and known for her artistic craft works and installations, Frida Fjellman lets the viewer of her works dive into the world of myths and fables. The eye-catching hanging installation “Crystal Atmosphere“ made of glass prisms in different sizes, colors and heights creates a dreamy atmosphere inside the by-invitaiton only VIP Lounge of NetJets. „I was interested in exploring the almost magical sense of tranquility that you experience when cruising above the clouds – flying is perhaps one of the few oasis of calm in our increasingly interconnected digital society. Crystal Atmosphere was designed to impart a sense of calm to the viewer as well as to intrigue and fascinate, making the visitor reflect and take a step back from their everyday lives. I hope that this will be a memorable and unexpected experience for the guests.“ said Frida Fjellman

What We’re Coveting From New York Design Week

Throughout the year, Architectural Digest’s market department scours showrooms, stores, fairs, and design centers for the best new products on the market and then brings its favorites to AD PRO. From rugs to wallpaper to furniture and lighting, these are the items our editors are eyeing. This week, Associate Market Editor Kathryn Given shares her favorites, sourced from New York Design Week.

Photo: Courtesy of Hostler Burrows

Frida Fjellman at Hostler Burrows

The opening of TEFAF at the Park Avenue Armory drew those hoping to see the best in art and antiques, and the exhibitors certainly didn’t disappoint. A standout piece from Hostler Burrows was Frida Fjellman’s Lustre En Cristal Topaze Enfumée, a stunning hanging glass and brass object.

Frida Fjellman’s Enchanting Glass Sculptures

Fjellman at her Crystal Forest installation at Galleri Splace in Sweden. Photo: Jon Dreierbakken One of the head-turning booths at the Design Miami fair in December was a velvet-curtained lair where prismatic glass pendant lights hung in twinkling clusters like oversize jewels. Presented by New York gallery Hostler Burrows, the installation was the work of Swedish artist Frida Fjellman, who says her aim is “to intrigue and fascinate, to take viewers away from their everyday lives.” Based in Stockholm, Fjellman has caught the attention of the art and design worlds with her hyperreal ceramic and glass creatures and abstract swirling glass sculptures—which she often puts into enchanting tableaux. Juliet Burrows, co-owner of Hostler Burrows, says that Fjellman’s complex work “elicits a range of emotions, from joy to terror to wonder.” Currently Fjellman is working on a new series of lighting in hues inspired by the Art Deco era. “I love the power and positive outlook that period conveys,” the artist says. “My work is no joke, but I want to have fun.”

Under the loupe: our latest watch and jewellery finds

WATCHES & JEWELLERY/16 DEC 2016

Precious light forms16 December

We couldn’t help but love Swedish artist Frida Fjellman’s Design Miami installation for New York gallery Hostler Burrows. For her ‘La Crypte de Velours Bleu’ series at the fair, the artist presented a series of her glass and brass chandeliers. Formed of giant point-cut glass gems dangling from a clutch of loose brass chains, their scale delights with a comic sensibility. On closer inspection, however, that humorous mood and muted colour tones emanate a slightly darker, Victorian feel.

Women Who Stole The Spotlight At Miami Art Week 2016

…The booths and fair tents have now been vacated, and life in Miami restored to normal traffic woes. But the female voices present at Miami Art Week – an annual flurry of fairs that descend upon the city each December – have resonated far beyond these temporary events…

Design Miami

…Hostler Burrows (New York) presented an installation by Frida Fjellman (Sweden), entitled La Crypte de Velours Bleu. The prismatic glass chandeliers invoke wonderment, and Fjellman felt that if she increased the size of the emerald-shaped ‘gems,’ she would also increase the spectacle of the treasures. Her work diverges from traditional Swedish art and design minimalism, rather exemplifying her mastery of a traditional craft and deep-rooted love for the Northern Swedish landscape…

Design Miami 2016: La Crypte de Velours Bleu by Frida Fjellman

…Although part of the Hostler Burrows booth, Fjellman displayed her work in a room of her own, intensifying the surrealistic nature of the pendants. Hung within their blue velvet chamber, the lights transport us into some enchanted fairy tale where giants drape themselves in gargantuan baubles, making us feel as small as Alice.

In La Crypte de Velours Bleu, which translates as The Blue Velvet Crypt, Fjellman hung the chandeliers “in clusters to create an immersive environment.” That environment revives our sense of childhood wonder because, in walking through the space, we feel miniaturized—increasing our awe exponentially.

But the whole of the installation should not diminish the charm of its individual parts. “Inspired by precious gems,” the faceted pieces of Fjellman’s lights are each captivating. From ruby to sapphire, translucent to opaque, the suspended polygons are each baroque

beauties…

The Telegraph

Design Miami highlights

Frida Fjellman at Hostler Burrows

”Swedish designer Frida Fjellman started out in ceramics. She’s since diversified but her work still blurs the line between craft and fine art. Her giant glass chandeliers suspended like clusters of gargantuan jewels were given their own curtain-clad chamber by Hostler Burrows. Inspired by the prisms found in a traditional crystal chandelier these illuminated pieces were some of the most arresting pieces at this year’s fair. hostlerburrows.com”